By mlb, on July 1st, 2010%
Summer makes me think of Spanish food. I think it’s the sun and the heat and the fact that I want to make gazpacho all the time and drink sangria (also, all the time). So, it’s usually in Summer that I will grab one of my most favorite cookbooks ever and page through it looking for something tasty to make. The cookbook? The New Spanish Table. If you don’t have it, go get it. You will not be sorry.
So, yes, Summer. Spain….strawberries! This was really good. The berries got a little caramelized and pork tenderloin with rosemary is always a winner. I thought the sauce would be a little too acid-y but it was just perfect with this. Also, since you’re cooking them a bit, the strawberries don’t have . . . → Read More: Pork Tenderloin with Lightly Seared Strawberries
By mlb, on April 19th, 2010%
Fennel pollen is kind of expensive but also really amazing. There really isn’t a great substitute for it, so if you’ve got a little extra money, I’d invest in some. So fragrant. Kind of like if you mixed fennel with curry and some kind of mystery tasty ingredient. I’ve seen it online at Amazon. I was going to go that route but, in the words of jwa, I was able to score some through my “shadowy, underground, food blog connections.”
Actually, I made a comment on twitter about wanting to get some and a fellow pdxer offered to sell me some from a big, fancy food order they were putting together! But honestly, I think “shadowy, underground, food blog connections” sounds better. Much more mysterious…
Even without the fennel . . . → Read More: Pork Chop Heaven, aka: Pork Chops with Fennel Pollen
By mlb, on April 11th, 2010%
Facebook, not just for fake farms and stupid quizzes…
I went to grade school, junior high and then high school with someone who now works at NASA. I know, neat! We recently got back in touch via facebook and now I am contributing to a cookbook review he’s working on. Not just any cookbook, but The Astronaut’s Cookbook: Tales, Recipes, and More. I must admit that when he first asked me if I wanted to help review the book and cook a few of the recipes I was a little worried. My only previous experience with space food was the novelty packages of freeze dried Astronaut Ice Cream you could get at the Bay area Frys. (Edited to add: I kind of miss the San Jose Ancient Egypt-themed Frys).
But, . . . → Read More: Rachael Ray (and More) in Space: Part I
By mlb, on October 28th, 2009%
Okay, this is seriously the best thing I have done with a pork tenderloin in like, years. Oh my god. Make this now. It was so good in fact, that I didn’t even get a decent picture of it for the title shot here. I just took it to the table and that was the end of that. So, above is a shot of the wine that we had for dinner. A zinfandel. It was good too.
The original recipe used bone-in pork chops but I substituted a pork tenderloin. I also did this indoors as opposed to outside on the grill, mainly because I was lazy. No matter, jwa & I were still rewarded with a delicious pork meal! I don’t really know what else to say about this . . . → Read More: Roasted Fennel-Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Sage-Lemon Vinaigrette